Written for the first ever Tin Man Grand Prix Challenge; a 10-week fanfiction writing challenge at tmchallenge on Livejournal. Authors were given secret codes in order to post their stories anonymously. The intent was to level the playing field between popular and less popular authors. Stories were to rated on a scale of 1 to 5. At the end of the 10 weeks, the scores were totaled and your's truly won 3rd Place! (I never expected that in a million years). So in the end, participating in the tmchallenge helps to explain why I haven't worked on my WIP, Let Loose The Dogs Of War.

Title: The Chase
Round/Week: 03
Original Author Code: RU01AC004
Rating: T
Summary: Jeb takes a ride through the farm
Warnings: None

Original Challenge Statement: Let's blame this one on Glitch, shall we? "Gotta love a good orchard!"

Your story must feature either an orchard or a vineyard. It doesn't have to feature both, but you can use them both if you wish. By feature, I mean you can set the piece in either one, you can center your dialog around one, whatever suits your fancy and fits the prompt. I've got some visual aids for you.

Jeb glanced over his shoulder and through the dusty haze saw the soldiers racing to catch him. In response he kicked his horse hard in its sides. The big horse snorted in protest but he obeyed Jeb's command and continued to thunder down the road. Squinting through the bright sunlight, Jeb made out an opening for another side trail. He pulled up hard on the reins and his horse complained loudly at the abrupt command to change direction. He shook his head violently and Jeb grunted with the effort to keep him reined in. Then he kicked him hard in his sides and they galloped down the trail once more.

Jeb took another glimpse over his shoulder and to his satisfaction found the soldiers barreling down upon him. As he turned his head to concentrate on the trail in front of him a few shots pierced the air. He bent over as far as he could; his head close to his horse's neck. Every now and again he had to shake his head in order to get rid of the mane that whipped in to his face.

The trail that Jeb picked turned out to be the lane to a private farm. A sign off to the right announced "Crystal Gale Orchards and Vineyards". Looming in front of him was a wooden gate. It was tall and it was closed. He kicked his horse once more in its sides and with almost no effort, his horse cleared it. "Good boy!" he yelled over the rush of wind.

Jeb started down the lane but then violently veered to the left. Down through the vineyard they galloped. The sweet smell of fresh cut grapes still lingered in the air. It was a sharp contrast to the life or death chase that was now occurring. Out at the sides of his vision Jeb saw startled field workers drop their baskets and run away, shouting words that he could not make out. He was more than willing to make a wager though that that they were not "nice" words. More shots rang out and he bent over even further in order to make himself as small as a target as possible.

His horse started to breathe heavily and its skin became drenched with sweat. He yelled out, "Hang in there boy! Just a little further!" He did not know if it was encouragement for the beast beneath him or if he meant it more for himself. In the distance, another obstacle emerged ahead of them. He braced himself for the jump and to his relief his horse cleared the stone fence row.

Jumping the fence row led them to another part of the farm. It was an orchard but the fruit trees were nothing but a blur to him. As before in the vineyard, the farm workers were startled at the sight of Jeb and his horse galloping by. They dropped their baskets as they ran away looking for a safe haven. Behind him he heard some of the men shout out and the loud whinnying of a horse. Without a backwards glance he guessed that one of the horses failed to clear the fence row.

He could feel his horse begin to slow ever so slightly. Off to his left side, one row over, a figure appeared. One of the soldiers had caught up to him. Without warning, the soldier abruptly steered his horse in between two of the fruit trees so that he would be in the same row as Jeb. The feat of bravery or foolishness nearly took the soldier off of his horse as he barely cleared the low hanging branches.

In a matter of seconds the soldier pulled up alongside of Jeb. He took out his whip and hit Jeb in the back of his head. The attack momentarily dazed Jeb and he shook his head to try to clear the pain. He pulled the reins to his right and his horse pulled away from the soldier. Jeb knew that it would only take a second 

or two for the soldier to catch back up to him but it would be time enough. He pulled out his rifle from his left front saddle bag.

As the soldier reacted and brought his horse up alongside once more, Jeb was ready for him. With his right hand on the reins he used his left arm to swing the butt of his rifle at the soldier. It hit him square across the soldier's chest. It stunned him but he quickly recovered and he turned in his saddle. He let loose of the reins and reared his arm back, ready to throw the first punch. Jeb took advantage of the opportunity. With both hands he grabbed his rifle and punched the butt of it as hard as he could in to the soldier's rib cage. The move caught the soldier by surprise. As he flailed his arms, Jeb punched him with the rifle again, and again, and again. The final punch was at his head and the move caused the soldier to bend over backwards in his saddle.

Neither had paid much attention to how fast they were coming upon the large wagon laden with fresh fruit from the orchard. Jeb shoved his rifle back in to its holder and grabbed both reins. He made one last hard kick and then braced himself for the jump. With more courage than what most men possess his horse jumped one last time and sailed over the front part of the wagon.

As the soldier sat back up in his saddle and regained his bearings he realized too late how close he was to the wagon. His horse stopped abruptly and reared up on its hind legs. The suddenness of the move caused the soldier to be thrown backwards. Unfortunately his left foot got caught up in the stirrup and he dangled helplessly from his saddle. The horse, startled by both the wagon and the odd weight hanging from his side reared up again on his hind legs and came crashing down on the baskets of fruit set down in the front of the wagon. Once more he reared up and then he turned and started to gallop through one of the orchard rows. The soldier screamed at the top of his lungs for his runaway horse to stop.

Jeb did not look back to see if the soldier made it past the wagon or not. He was headed towards the assembly of barns near the main farm house. One of the barn doors was left open and he pointed his horse there. He yanked on the reins and the horse whinnied in protest at the abrupt stop. Jeb slid off as fast as he could and led the horse off to the side where he quickly tied him to one of the posts. He gave him a quick but gentle pat on his sweaty neck and told him, "Good boy!" He grabbed his rifle, then ran back to the barn door, skirting around the baskets of fruit and grapes. He stood with his back flush to the wall. There he waited as he heard the thundering hooves of his pursuers come nearer.

Then the thundering stopped. He could hear soft murmurings from the riders and their horses nervously prancing.

He did his best to control his own ragged breathing. He was not afraid that it would give away his position; he did it to calm himself. If the situation came down to it, he wanted to be sure that his aim would be straight and true. He brought up his rifle and held it close to his chest.

He heard the soldiers dismount from their horses and the soft neighing and snorting continued from a few of them. One or two of the soldiers said something but it was hard to make out. It sounded something like "I don't like the looks of this."

Before the soldiers could do anything else a familiar voice cried out. "Put your hands up in the air!"

The loud clicks of shotguns and rifles broke the silence. Jeb raised his rifle and cautiously peered out from around the barn door. He allowed himself to break in to a slight smile.

The familiar voice yelled out, "Keep your hands up and slowly step away from those horses!"

The soldiers looked at one another but then did as they were told.



Cain, DG, and the other banished men slowly and cautiously surrounded the group of soldiers. A few other men took the reins of their horses and led them away in to one of the other barns.

Cain kept a wary eye on the soldiers but yelled out to his son, "It's good to see that you made it in one piece!"

"Me too!" Jeb yelled back.

With a loud and firm voice, DG ordered the others, "Take those men in to the barn and tie them down, but take the leader in to the farm house."

Jeb called out, "There's two soldiers unaccounted for. One's near the gathering wagon in the orchard and the other is near the fence row between the orchard and the vineyard."

Cain nodded his head in understanding and yelled over to the men that were leading the horses away, "Richards!" One of the men stopped and turned around. "Use those horses to chase down those two stray soldiers. They can't be too far."

The man called Richards yelled back, "Don't worry. We'll chase 'em down."

As the men did what they were told, DG, Cain, and Jeb lowered their guns and walked towards each other.

Jeb took off his ragged handkerchief from around his neck and wiped the sweat and dirt from his brow. "What now?" he asked.

Cain said nothing for a second. But as he watched some of the men ride off he solemnly answered, "Hope to hell that leader is the Lieutenant Stanford we're looking for."

DG looked off in the distance and saw some of the farm workers slowly returning to the orchard to recover their baskets. She guessed that the other farm workers in the vineyard would be doing the same. "We better get inside," she reminded them. She had no idea how much longer the "Crystal Gale Orchards and Vineyards" could be used as a cover. However, once it was learned that, cross the fingers it was really him, Lieutenant Stanford was missing, search patrols would be sent out.

Jeb replied, "You guys go ahead on in. I'm going to take care of Black." He turned to leave and Cain called after him, "When you're done why don't you bring in some of those gallapfels? The men need something a little different to eat."

Jeb continued walking towards the barn but waved his arm in acknowledgement.

DG and Cain started to walk towards the farm house. Cain asked her, "You think we got that Stanford?"

She stared ahead for a moment but then took a sideways glimpse at him. The look of relief knowing that Jeb was not killed or even injured was evident on his face. "Has to be. The Oracle hasn't been wrong yet has she?"

Cain only nodded in silent agreement.